INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY INSTITUTE (ISI) the organiser of the 2021 World Chinese Economic Forum (2021 WCEF) intend to refer to their solicitors to take appropriate action if more incorrect and unwarranted statements come from tycoon Lee Kim Yew, Chairman of Country Heights Holdings Bhd.
ISI in a statement Tuesday (28 Dec) said the forum has nothing to do with Lee and slammed the latter’s Facebook posting which, to some extent was factually incorrect to the point of being libellous, the statement stated.
“It has been brought to our attention the statement made by Lee Kim Yew in his Facebook page concerning the 2021 World Chinese Economic Forum (2021 WCEF).
“For instance, Michael Yeoh was our organising chairman for the past WCEF events, and he (Lee) was instrumental in developing the WCEF events under our corporation namely the 10th & 11th WCEF events,” ISI said.
According to ISI, the current WCEF event is the Special Edition of WCEF after the 11th WCEF event organised by them in 2019 in Hangzhou, China.
“We are the rightful organiser of the 2021 World Chinese Economic Forum, an annual event which we have been organizing since 2018 in Malaysia for the 10th WCEF event.
In his statement, Lee said the WCEF was founded by him in 2009, with the first edition being held at the Palace of the Golden Horses. He said the event garnered the support of economic and political analyst Michael Yeoh after a few years.
In response, ISI said Yeoh was the organising chairman for its past WCEF events.
The 2021 WCEF held yesterday became the centre of attention as it featured former prime minister Najib Razak as its keynote speaker.
“It is an annual event which we have been organising since 2018 in Malaysia. Our current chairman is also the registered trademark owner of the WCEF,” ISI said.
Elaborating further, ISI said the current 2021 WCEF is co-hosted together with the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) and One Belt One Road Association (PMOBOR).
“We must also add that the selection of the speakers for the 2021 WCEF was made by three parties, namely, International Strategy Institute (ISI), CCOIC and PMOBOR.
“This has nothing to do with Lee Kim Yew for that matter.
“We also wish to state that the 2021 World Chinese Economic Forum has no connection with the World Chinese Economic Summit or Global Chinese Economic and Technology Summit. Neither do we associate with Lee Kim Yew in the 2021 WCEF,” they said.
Najib Razak, meanwhile appeared bemused when he wrote in his Facebook post that the tycoon (Lee) is former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s business partner in the Palace of the Golden Horses and in a private jet services company, Flyjet. Lee’s son and Mahathir’s grandchild were also the producers of the “M for Malaysia” film which documented Malaysia’s 2018 general elections and Mahathir’s prominent role in it.
It will be interesting to see if there are any further developments to the allegations by both Lee and Cheah, as it now looks like a proxy war between Mahathir and Najib. – New Malaysia Herald
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